Users of network services are increasingly seeking from a single network provider value-added, multi-faceted communications capabilities, ranging from basic narrow-band voice telephony services to advanced broadband, multi-media services. Users are also seeking higher communications bandwidths and greater control over that bandwidth. Next generation networks (NGNs) offer service providers a platform to satisfy these user needs, while promoting innovation and reducing management costs and time to market.
An NGN is a packet-based network that employs new control, management, and signaling techniques to provide voice, data, video and multimedia services. (In this document, we refer to data, video, and multimedia services as data.) A generalized local service provider NGN architecture is shown in FIG. 1. It consists of two sub networks, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 102 and a data packet network 104. The packet network is further divided into access packet networks 106 and a backbone network 108. Subscribers 120 are connected to the access network 106 via access hubs 110. Access hubs are also know by other terms such as access gateways, integrated access devices, media gateways, and residential gateways. Access hubs 110 bridge the transport technologies used in subscriber networks 112 with the transport technologies used in access packet networks 106. The particular implementation of an access hub 110 depends on the technology utilized in the access network and the subscriber network. For example, in the case of residential customers, the subscriber network 112 is typically based on digital subscriber loop (xDSL) technology deployed in the local loop or data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) technology deployed over coax cable. The access network 106 would then include digital subscriber loop (DSLAM) functionality. Customers, such as business subscribers, may own and operate access hubs as equipment on their premises. Alternatively, the service provider may operate access hubs serving multiple subscribers.
The access network 106 and the backbone network 108 are optimized for efficient transmission of large amounts of data and typically use internet protocol (IP), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and/or synchronous optical network (SONET) technologies. The access network 106 is connected to the backbone network 108 by a network gateway 114. The network gateway 114 provides the communications interface between the data packet network 104 and the PSTN 102. The network gateway 114 also aggregates traffic from multiple access hubs 110 and delivers the traffic to the backbone network 108 for transmission.
An NGN 100 has its own control infrastructure. Typically, network elements are designated to support service, session and connection signaling. We shall refer to these elements herein as service managers (SMs) 116 but these elements are also referred to in the industry as media gateway controllers, call agents, gatekeepers, and signaling agents.
Networks, including NGNs, have limited bandwidth. With the advent of new, sophisticated NGN services, the demands for access to this limited network bandwidth have increased dramatically. To meet these demands, NGN providers are continually striving to increase the efficiency of network traffic control through bandwidth management techniques.
In an NGN, access network bandwidth is shared between signaling, voice, and data traffic. In current implementations, data and voice traffic compete for bandwidth, with the voice packets having priority over data packets and signaling packets having priority over voice packets. Therefore, the guaranteed minimum bandwidth available for data traffic equals the overall network bandwidth less the bandwidth allocated to signaling and voice traffic. One consequence of this implementation is that the guaranteed minimum bandwidth available for data may not always be adequate to handle the subscriber's dynamic data traffic needs. When additional bandwidth is required for a data session (e.g., video session or high priority data transfer), the bandwidth allocated to the voice sessions needs to be reduced to ensure that the voice traffic does not starve the data session. Once the data session completes, the bandwidth available for the voice session can be restored.
Prior techniques addressing re-allocation of bandwidth in ATM networks using private virtual circuits (PVCs) required a customer to contact a service provider and request a bandwidth modification. The service provider would then tear down the connection and re-establish it at the new bandwidth. This approach to re-allocation of bandwidth results in the clearing of any active sessions on the PVC. In addition, the process of contacting the service provider and having the service provider modify the connection could result in lengthy delays.
Alternate approaches focus on improving the utilization of link bandwidth. Typically, these approaches involve the implementation of traffic control algorithms in the network. These algorithms are generally implemented in the network elements and apply to all traffic within the network. Therefore, a subscriber does not have the ability to tailor bandwidth management for its line numbers and access hubs.
An objective of our invention is to provide a system and method to allow a user to proactively manage the bandwidth associated with his line numbers and associated access hubs. It is yet another objective of our invention to simplify bandwidth provisioning at access hubs and network gateways by allowing voice/data bandwidth ratio to be established independently of the provisioned bandwidth for voice and data and for changes to the ratio to be made in near real-time.